China Cancels Waste Project Following Protest

Local residents march during a protest against an industrial waste pipeline under construction in Qidong, China, July 28, 2012.

Chinese officials have scrapped plans for an industrial waste project after more than 1,000 protesters in the coastal city of Qidong took to the streets where they overturned cars and invaded government offices.

Local authorities released a statement on Saturday saying the project had been canceled after protesters clashed with police who eventually quelled the unrest.

The pipeline would have emptied industrial waste from a nearby paper factory into the sea.
Protests against environmental degradation have increased in China, where three decades of rapid and unregulated industrial expansion have resulted in several instances of mass poisonings and health scares.